Devices for feeding rod-like articles



June 19, 19 2 w. w. R. HARNACK DEVICES FOR FEEDING ROD-LIKE ARTICLESFiled Dec. 14, 1959 Fig.1

DEVICES FOR FEEDING KGB-LIKE ARTTCLES Werner W. R. Harnack, Hamburg,Germany, assignor to Hauni=Werke Kiirher 8. Co. KG Hamburg-=Bergedorf,Germany Filed Dec. 14, 1959, er. No. 859,381 Claims priority,application Germany Dec. 23, 1958 3 Claims. (Cl. 198-26) The presentinvention relates to devices for feeding rodlike articles, for examplefilter rods, cigarettes, cigarillos, or the like into axial groovesprovided on the circumference of a rotary drum of a cigarette makingmachine.

In the copending application Serial No. 777,109, filed on November 28,1958, inventors Bernhard Schubert and Willy Rudszinat, is described adevice provided with a rotary cam roller having such a diameter that theperipheral length at the pitch circle is a simple multiple of the pitchof the grooves in the feed device, and this multiple is a numberdivisible by any of the numbers representing the spacing, calculated asa multiple of the groove pitch, of the spaced grooves which may berequired to be filled by successive articles.

Such a device may be fitted to a magazine containing filter plug rodswhich are fed into the grooves of a feed device, for example a grooveddrum of a filter cigarette machine on which the rods are cut into filterplugs of twice the final length. In such a case a stop is provided atthe end of a feed channel facing the grooved drum which holds back thelowermost filter rod before the same is delivered to the groove of thedrum by means of a projection on the periphery of the cam roller.

When producing filter cigarettes, the filter mouthpieces cannot, ingeneral, be handled as individual plugs owing to their short length,and, therefore, filter rods are generally supplied of, for example, sixtimes the final length, and are fed to the grooved drum of a filtercigarette machine, and are severed on this drum into three filter plugsof twice the final length by means of two circular cutters. The filterplugs so obtained from each filter rod are axially aligned and must nowbe rearranged in rows before delivery to a further grooved drum in whicheach plug is placed between two cigarettes axially aligned with theplug.

If the former grooved drum is utilized to partake in the re-arrangement,the filter rods must be fed to mutually spaced grooves, since theintervening grooves are occupied by filter plugs which have not yet beentransferred off the drum. Thus, for example in the case of filter rodsof twice the final length, every second groove of the grooved drum, andin the case of filter plugs of three times the final double length,every third groove of the drum must be supplied with the filter rods.

The mentioned copending application also provides for handling filterrods of various lengths for which purpose the cam roller is madeexchangeably, the different rollers used having different numbers ofprojections and the arrangement is characterized in that the peripherallength of the cam roller is divisible by the desired multiple of thedouble final length of thefilter plugs, and the number of projections isuniformly distributed on its periphery and rotating in the region of thestop corresponds to the quotient of the peripheral length and theparticular multiple concerned whereby the peripheral length is given asthe dividend from the minimum number by which all multiples aredivisible.

The peripheral surface of the cam roller must obviously be suitablyspaced from the peripheral surface of the grooved drum in the region ofthe intervening still occupied grooves in order that filter plugs stillpresent in such grooves can pass freely beneath the feed roll.

This, however, involves the danger that the rods withdrawn by theprojections on the cam roller may move onward in advance and reach thedrum prematurely and without proper control. Moreover, the form of stopshown in the aforesaid specification at the end of the feed channelthrough which the filter rods pass, may hinder the removal of the rodsfrom the channel.

These disadvantages are eliminated according to the invention by thefact that the peripheral surface of the cam roller employs in front ofthe projection a surface rising in the direction of rotation of the camroller to provide a groove-like holder for the filter rod, and a stop isprovided for regulating the entry of the filter rods into thesegroove-like holders, said stop being pivotally mounted and controlled insuch a way that it opens the lower end of the vertical feed channel whenthe groove to be filled passes beneath it, and closes this lower endwhen the intervening grooves move past it.

in a preferred contructional form according to the invention the controlmeans for the rocking movement of the stop is so arranged that thelatter deposits the filter rod into the groove-like holders of the camroller without contact between the filter rods and the bottoms of thegrooves before the rod presses against the projection on the cam roller.

This arrangement assures a correctly timed withdrawal of the filter rodsfrom the magazine, and a satisfactory transfer of the filter rods to thereceiving grooves of the rotary grooved drum. Moreover, the withdrawalsection itself is improved by the avoidance of any rolling movementbetween the peripheral surface of the cam roller and the filter .rods tobe withdrawn.

The step may be spring loaded or it may itself be formed of a spring,and its movement may be controlled by means of an annular grooveprovided in the periphery of the cam roller, which annular grooveengages the stop, and the bottom thereof is arranged as a control cam.

One constructional example of the invention is shown diagrammatically inthe FIGURE 1 of the accompanying drawing which shows a view of part ofthe filter cigarette making machine. FIGURE 2 shows a plan view of adetail.

The device shown is fitted to the base of a magazine 1 having a somewhatinclined reciprocating bottom plate 1a and a vertically arranged feedchannel 3. A drum 2 rotating clockwise in the feed direction passes withits circumference through slots in the bottom plate 1a and also extendsinto the feed channel 3. A further rotary roll 4 is arranged on theopposite side of the channel 3 and rotates clockwise and opposite to thewithdrawal direction of the filter rods and engages the magazine 1 fromthe opposite side and holds back the pile of filter rods or otherarticles in the magazine 1. The channel 3 is formed by the parallelvertical side Walls 5 and 6.

The lower end of the channel 3 is provided with a stop for engaging thelowermost filter rod. In this case the stop is formed by a pivoted platemember 107, one end of which is pivotally supported about a pivot shaftwhile the other end of the substantially horizontally arranged platemember 107 rests loosely upon the bottom llda of the grooves 111 in acam roller 16 8. The cam roller 10% is arranged beneath the channel 3and is provided with one or more projections 9 serving as feed memberswhich pass through slots 10 in the lower end of the vertical wall 6. Thecam roller 108 is exchangeable and may have, for example, either two orthree projections 9. The projections 9 have on one side groove-shapeddepressions 109 which receive the filter rods. These depressions 109being flanked on the other side by a raised part formed by an inclinedface which rises progressively in the contrary direction of rotation ofthe roller 108. The filter rods =3 are safely held and reliably heldwithout danger of slip in said groove-shaped depressions 109.

As already stated, the cam roller 103 is provided on its periphery withannular grooves 111 which are engaged by projecting fingers provided atone end of the stop plate 107. The filter rods are held in position by acurved guide rail 12 extending concentrically about the cam roller 108so that between this guide rail 12 and the peripheral surface 10811 ofthe cam roller 108 a curved channel 3a is formed which constitutes acontinuation of the channel 3. The bottoms 111:: of the annular grooves111 are formed as cam surfaces against which the fingers of the stopplate 107 are pressed by means of a spring 118 acting on the stop plate.If desired, the fingers may have small rollers attached rotatably to thetips thereof in order that the frictional resistance between the fingersand the groove bottoms 11112 is reduced. The filter rods are to be fedto a grooved rotary drum 14 arranged beneath the cam roller 103. Everythird groove M of the drum 14 is intended for receiving a filter rod,while the intervening grooves M1 and M2 are being supplied with filterrod sections during the two following rotations of the grooved drum 14.

The filter rods are fed progressively from the magazine 1 into the feedchannel 3 up to the pivotal stop plate 107. During the passage of aprojection 9 through the region of the stop plate 107, the latter isallowed to pivotally move downwardly by the shape of the cam surface111a and the action of the tension spring 118 so that the lowermostfilter rod F drops into a groove-shaped depression 109 formed betweenthe lug 9 and the surface 100a of the cam roller 108. The drawing showsthis filter rod F after it has passed the lower end of the verticalchannel 3 and has just entered the curved channel 3a. Preferably thestop plate 107 is so timed that it allows the filter rod to drop intothe groove only when the filter rod itself is already in contact withthe leading end face of the lug 9.

Thereafter, the stop plate 107 is again moved upwardly and therebycloses the feed channel 3 so that the following filter rod F isprevented from coming into contact with the peripheral surface 108:: ofthe cam roller 108, or from passing into the guide channel 3a. The stopplate 107 holds the feed channel 3 closed until the next lug 9 of thecam roller 108 moves into the region of the lower end of the channel 3.Then it moves downwardly again, and the previously described operationis repeated.

The axially grooved drum 14 can be constructed in various ways. Forexample, an axially grooved drum can be used as described in thecopending applications Serial No. 812,924, filed May 13, 1959, inventorKarl- Helmut Miiller, or Serial No. 840,153, filed September 15, 1959,inventor Erwin Rieke.

What I claim is:

1. In a device for feeding fragile rod-shaped articles, such as filterplugs, cigarettes, or cigarillos, in timed succession from asubstantially vertical gravity feed channel into the grooves of agrooved conveyor means, a rotary feed roller mounted between thedischarge end of said feed channel and said conveyor means, a front wallin said feed channel extending parallel with the axis of said feedroller, a rear wall in said feed channel extending parallel with saidfront wall and spaced therefrom a distance somewhat greater than thediameter of said articles, a longitudinal groove in said feed roller, alower extension of said front wall curved around said feed roller so asto form between the bottom of said longitudinal groove in said feedroller and said extension a guide channel sufficiently wide for one ofsaid articles, said extension extending to the proximity of saidconveyor means, a projection on the circumference of said feed rollerrearwardly of said longitudinal groove and extending a substantialdistance into said guide channel, a movably mounted stop member at thebottom edge of said rear wall and movable into said feed channel at sucha level as to prevent the lowermost article from escaping into saidguide channel between said stop member and the bottom edge of said frontwall, a circumferential groove in said feed roller, the bottom of saidcircumferential groove forming a cam surface, and resilient meansconnected with said stop member and adapted to maintain said stop memberin engagement with said cam surface, said cam surface being of such ashape as to permit said stop member to leave the position, in which itobstructs the entrance to said guide channel, under the action of saidresilient means when said projection on the feed roller is in positionto engage the lowermost article in said feed channel, and to be returnedby said cam surface to support the next article in said feed channel.

2. In a device for feeding fragile rod-shaped articles, such as filterplugs, cigarettes or cigarillos, in timed succession from asubstantially vertical gravity feed channel into the grooves of agrooved conveyor means, a rotary feed roller mounted between thedischarge end of said feed channel and saidconveyor means, a front Wallin said feed channel extending parallel with the axis of said feedroller, a rear wall in said feed channel extending parallel with saidfront wall and spaced therefrom a distance somewhat greater than thediameter of said articles, a longitudinal groove in said feed roller, alower extension of said front wall curved around said feed roller so asto form between the bottom of said longitudinal groove in said feedroller and said extension a guide channel suificiently wide for one ofsaid articles, said extension extending to the proximity of saidconveyor means, a projection on the circumference of said feed rollerrearwardly of said longitudinal groove and extending a substantialdistance into said guide channel, stop means movably mounted at thebottom edge of said rear wall, and means for moving said stop meansbetween a first position in which it supports the lowermost article insaid feed channel and prevents entry of said lowermost article into saidguide channel, and a second position in which it permits such entry whensaid lowermost article is engaged by said projection on thecircumference of said feed roller.

3. The device as set forth in claim 2, in which said stop meanscomprises a pivotally mounted lever and said means for moving said stopmeans includes a circumferential groove in said feed roller, the bottomof said groove forming a cam surface, and resilient means formaintaining said lever in engagement with said cam surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS531,616 Black Dec. 25, 1894 1,707,329 Stephens Apr. 2, 1929 1,770,530Oslund July 15, 1930 2,918,197 Ritscher Dec. 22, 1959

